I’m a sucker for materials, whether it’s finished for loudspeakers and other audio equipment, a shoe’s fine, supple leather, a crisp cotton shirt, or a cozy cashmere scarf. Apart from their inherent sensuousness, materials can make a difference in the sonics of audio components, especially loudspeakers.
Exotic wood enclosures are old hat. Carbon fiber isn’t exotic anymore. Glass seems an odd choice for a loudspeaker enclosure—but that’s the choice made by Perfect8 speakers, which I encountered at T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach a few years back. And then there are the Jörn speakers from Denmark, which are made of iron; America’s OMA uses iron, too, in some of their designs. Fischer & Fischer uses enclosures made of slate.
Sonic energy seemed freed up. The combination of detail, attack speed, and energy made listening intense and exciting.
Acora Acoustics is the first company I’m aware of that makes the speaker enclosures out of granite. And not just any granite: They use a particular kind of granite, sourced from Africa. Ever since he was 16, Valerio Cora, the founder and self-taught designer of Acora Acoustics, has designed speakers with enclosures made from unusual materials including various types of rock.
Countertops, sure, but speakers? Why granite? Because granite is extremely hard, dense, rigid, and well-damped. All those properties are desirable for speaker enclosures.
The downside of granite is that it is hard to work with. Granite is so hard that only diamond cutting tools can be used—that or water jets, which are far less precise. CNC mach nes go slowly when cutting granite, and the tools wear quickly.
Bu hikaye Stereophile dergisinin January 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Stereophile dergisinin January 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
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German kitchens, Japanese amps, and Afropop gems
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EDITOR'S PICK - RECORDING OF THE MONTH
The record business was awash in money and power. Vinyl LPs were still five bucks, and while the pressings could be suspect, the music-buying public still snapped them up en masse.
The Butthole Surfers wipe out
REVINYLIZATION - Music's lunatic fringe drifts further out every hour. As it should. In this century, with computers playing an ever-larger role, music continues to fragment and become infinitely more varied. This splintering is either the essence of what keeps it relevant as an art form or something profoundly disturbing, to be hated and feared.
You're only lonely
AURAL ROBERT - The least surprising story in music today is the inevitable passing of irreplaceable talent. Tenor saxophonist Benny Golson died at age 95 the day I finished this salute to another fallen star, Southern California singer/songwriter John David \"JD\" Souther.
PS Audio Aspen FR5 - LOUDSPEAKER
I remember the first PS Audio product: a simple phono stage. It was so simple - a passive RIAA eq filter flanked by a pair of primitive op-amps - that when the schematic was made public, I built one myself; I was in the midst of my DIY years. I thought it was, to use a word from that time, nifty.
TEAC UD-701N - STREAMING PREAMP, D/A CONVERTER
In Gramophone Dreams #88, I described the sound of TEAC's VRDS-701T CD transport as \"dense and precise in a way I had never previously heard from digital.\" I went on to explain, \"by dense, I mean there was a tangible corporeality effected by seemingly infinite quantities of small, tightly packed molecules of musical information.\"
Sonus faber Sonetto V G2 - LOUDSPEAKER
Here's a hard truth: A written review of a full-sized speaker any speaker, really-is, at best, semi-useful. We all listen differently, we have different musical tastes, our system electronics are different, and our listening rooms vary a lot. You will gain a general picture of a speaker's capabilities and foibles from John Atkinson's measurements, and I can tell you how the speakers sound to me, in my room. But that's it. You need to hear them for yourself before making a buying decision. The best I can do is tell you how my music brain felt when the speakers were in my house and making music.
STEREOPHILE'S 33RD ANNUAL - PRODUCT OF THE YEAR AWARD 2024
When Stereophile's Product of the Year Awards were first published, in 1992, we decided that unlike some other publications and their awards schemes, we would keep the number of categories to a minimum. That way, we would avoid what the late Art Dudley once described as the \"every child in the class gets a prize\" syndrome.
Moon 861 - POWER AMPLIFIER
It is unusual to begin a review with a detailed discussion of setup. But setup protocol for the Moon 861 power amplifier ($22,000 each), the top-level amplifier in the North Collection from Moon, which I reviewed bridged in mono, proved crucial to its sound.
Mobile Fidelity, PrimaLuna, and First Watt redux
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS - It's important for readers to remember that I've spent my adult life as an artist and mechanic. Making things. Working as a tradesperson during the day then at an easel or workbench at night.
